Two players placed on NHL waivers for Oct. 6

A couple of forwards have hit the waiver wire on Tuesday.

Tampa Bay Lightning center Jansen Harkins and Columbus Blue Jackets winger Mikael Pyyhtia have each been placed on waivers by their respective teams.

The two forwards are now available to be claimed by any of the NHL’s other 31 teams. Should they go through waivers unclaimed, they’ll be eligible to be assigned to the American Hockey League (AHL).

Harkins, 29, played in Tampa Bay’s season-opening 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers on October 1, going pointless in just under 11 minutes of ice time. He signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Lightning this past offseason.

Last season, the Cleveland, Ohio native played 44 games for the Anaheim Ducks, putting up three goals and five assists for eight points.

Initially a second-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Harkins has played for the Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ducks, and Lightning in his career. In 306 total regular season NHL games, he has compiled 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points. He is the son of former Calgary Flames and Hartford Whalers forward Todd Harkins.

Pyyhtia, 24, has yet to get into a game this season. Last season, he had a goal and no assists in five games for Columbus, but mostly played for the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate Cleveland Monsters, where he registered 29 goals and 28 assists for 49 points in 59 games before contributing three goals and two assists for five points in nine playoff games.

Selected by Columbus in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the Finnish national has played a total of 71 NHL games in his career, all with the Blue Jackets, in which he’s scored five goals and added six assists for 11 points.